2015 American Silver Eagles’ Sales Inventory Capped at 1.18 Million Oz. This Week

The U.S. Mint sold 2.82 million 2015 American Eagle silver bullion coins last week, a considerable dent in the 3 million piece inventory made available to buyers on July 27th. Prior to last week, the 2015 Silver Eagle had been out of stock since selling out on July 7.

Due in part to those robust sales figures, this week’s total available inventory for the coin is a considerably smaller 1.18 million ounces. Reuters notes that the sales hiatus did little to dampen July’s sales stats, which totaled a formidable 5.5 million ounces–the most since January.

In related news, the U.S. Mint reported Friday that its 2015 American Eagle gold bullion coins sold 170,000 in July, more than doubling its June sales number to best any month since April 2013.

Regarding the strong demand for silver, West Point Mint plant manager Ellen McCullom stated, “I don’t think anyone anticipated the sales in silver. This is normally a quiet time.”

Mint production manager Jennifer Butkus noted that 2015 Silver Eagles are on pace to sell 40 million ounces this year, compared to the 44 million sold in all of 2014. For more information on the 2014 American Eagle silver bullion coins, visit the U.S. Mint’s Web site.

The funny thing is that plenty of these bullion ASE’s end up in slabs, often sold at a premium on TV and elsewhere. I wonder if buyers of these slabbed ASE’s know they bought one of 40 million? Or do only the PGCS/NGC population reports matter? Manufactured rarity? I believe so.

@MikeinPA
I am a silver bug as well and put away as much as I can. But with the economy rolling along and gas prices falling and everybody thinking the US has recovered, I believe silver will drop under $10 an ounce.

I myself don’t think we have recovered, I think we just covered it up in the litter box. So Stack on! I think we will have a shot at stacking away more Monster Boxes instead of rolls!

VA Bob… I obviously won’t be buying the HR… primarily because it doesn’t interest me, but besides that I don’t believe gold is going up to support the coin anytime in the near future. So it truly is buy what you like – but like the price you are buying it at and this one doesn’t fill any of that for me. I’ll continue my St. Gaudens hunt.

Seems like those who did not buy or at least claim they did not are so invested psychologically in a failure of the HR coin. They seem desperate for it.
But those who like it and bought it are not sweating it because we buy what we like in Hidalgo fashion.
One would think those comments from MNB in 2009 that someone posted would result in some caution given what actually happened with that coin.

O.K., back to Lady Liberty. When the design for this modern rendition of Miss Liberty was finalized,
many commenters questioned her ethnicity. She’s probably an ethnic blend.
The one thing that strikes me, though, is that she is young, attractive, slender and athletic looking. She is also carrying a torch, giving her image an Olympic feel to it. She would, no doubt, be well suitable for inclusion on an Olympic commemorative coin.
My conclusion: She’s not Lady Liberty. She’s Ms. Olympia carrying an American flag.

Louis,
I agree with you, but I don’t think that MNB comments on either end of the spectrum (highly praiseworthy vs. highly disparaging) will make or break a coin’s success or failure in terms of Mint sales and after market sales.
There are many significant factors which a collector has to consider before popping for a Mint product. A Blog Site such as this one helps sort out the possible pros and cons of obtaining these often costly coin products. Are there biased and self serving comments on this Blog? Sure. But these type of comments are, more than likely, easy to identify and discount. Are there useless, off-topic comments that appear on this Blog. Sure. I even plead guilty to contributing some of them. My previous comment is probably in that category.
But, overall, I think the contributions from commenters to the MNB serve the coin community well.

thePhelps – Good advice and it’s been said over and over on this blog. I do have to confess, I bought a 2011 Gold Buffalo that same year for $1910. Then I turned around a bought another one the following year for $1860. What can I say I like that series. Now I wish I could have bought them for less, but I didn’t know were gold was headed. I could have waited, and picked up someone else’s culls on ebay for less, but when it come to moderns, I don’t care for picked over coins. So what to do? Buy what I like or worry about the cost? I would miss out on a lot of coins if I waited for a lower priced secondary market price, especially when I’m capable of grading my own coins and don’t need a slab to say what I have. Believe me I wish I didn’t like the HR, but the pros outweighed the cons. Of course it didn’t help that the wife liked it too and bought one herself.

Some commenters on MNB have repeatedly referred to the HR Gold as a bullion coin, although the Mint, in it’s description of the coin, doesn’t use the term. I believe that it is actually correct to refer to the Lady Liberty as a collector coin and not a bullion one. Am I correct?

With all these reports of the back ordered coins shipping this week that must mean that the mint actually struck all 50k which tells you that the temporary sell out was bogus. Or maybe the missing 15k just needed to be boxed up / shipped from West Point to the fulfillment center.

It is a bullion or business strike, meaning mint state, but of course not a bullion coin per se., Only those with a pathological or primal need to denigrate the coin call it a bullion coin.

The backorder thing is a disaster and is the key reason the coin has not sold out. I just discussed this with one of the biggest players in the market. The Mint needs to go back to the old system or something better than what they are using to generate backorder dates, as they are meaningless, and are deterring people from buying, as did the 4 hour listing as unavailable, and the irresponsible labeling of the coin as backordered by certain web sites and dealers. Does “Gone Girl” really sound the same as backordered and will be shipped in 2-3 days? Really?

@Ikaika- That must be one valuable dog you have.! I sure hope you can work something out that does not end the bond between man and man’s best friend. Sorry I can’t use the smiley faces, or I would insert one here.

Ikaika,
Is there any possibility you can take the unprecedented step of requesting the Mint to hold your order until October, when you originally expected it? I’m sure you wouldn’t mind receiving the HR two months from now rather than next week.
What breed is your dog, anyway?

$9.75/oz cost the Mint $2 million. Wednesday’s Gold PM fix was $1,090.25. IF the PM fix had been $1,100.00 the Mint would have made an additional $2 million on the high relief Liberty. 41,830 x $50 = $2,091,050. Ironically Gold crossed over the $1,100.00 mark within 2 hours after the PM fix…

The backordered status I think is meaningless. I ordered several Kennedy $ spouse sets when they first went on backorder with an expected ship date of September. Well I received them last Thursday. Backorder expected ship date I believe is just a façade .

By and large, the bloggers on this website are really intelligent and decent people, and their views, even when they don’t agree, still make a lot of sense and are worth listening to. I enjoy reading the comments and learning new things about the coin markets that I don’t already know, and once in awhile I will chip in with my comments. I am older than most of you, my primary interest is in older coins, which were new (or at leastnewer) coins when I was younger! But i hace collected most of the modern commem coins since they first came out back in 1982 , and like VA Bob, if I didn’t like the coin or thought it was stupid – like the 38th anniversary of the end of the Korean War coin in 1991 – somebody in Congress must have thought that the year was a good mtie-in with the 38th parallel that separated the two Koreas, that’s all I can figure, or the horribly ugly Eunice Kennedy Shriver coin from 1995 – those are examples of coins I chose not to buy, plus quite a few of the gopld commem coi8ns, which I just could not afford. I have no desire or need to have one of every coin or date of any series of coin, older or modern, and this attitude has saved me a ton of money over the years. I’m a collector, but I don’t have to have a complete collection of any series. I have collected Lincoln cents for over 50 years now, and I still do not own a 1914D cent, and I acquired my first and only 1909S VDB cent just earlier this year, and I have no particular interest in having to have a 1914D cent. Also, for those of you who know about older coins, I don’t buy any “mistakes” that have somehow gotten into the list of “must haves” for coin collectors, like any of the overdates – nickels, dimes, and quarters, or any worn die coins like the 1922 plain cent or the 1937D 3-legged buffalo nickel. These are to me not really part of any series, just like the 1913 Liberty nickel is not really part of a set of that series, despite all the hype and astronomical prices realized for one of these coins, which were actually minted surreptiously in the Mint and then withheld from notice for several years afterwards. In any case, like some other bloggers have said before, buy what you like and don’t buy what you don’t like. To me, you are better off buying modern coins direcdtly from the Mint than waiting to maybe see lower prices in the years ahead, and perhaps getting someone else’s reject.

Was watching 3 auctions. One ended at $1674 the next one at $1550.00. The last one had bids but was cancelled and changed to buy it now $1699. Hes already hurt his sellers perfomance level and will be charged a fee for ending a auction with bids.

@stephen m: really? So your type is the reason the Mint is trying to make it Christmas Eve every day. Lots of trinkets coming your way…Santa is coming every night…..
Look at the St. Gauden’s with her flowing movement and compare to the androgynous stiff on this fake coin.

@stephen m: that is what im talking about. You got a beautiful purest of gold highest of face value decent low mintage coin from which none other has ever been made. Enjoy that feeling when you open her up and fly like that eagle in your mind. True passion and only some paper allowed u to feel these feelings. Not a bad trade IMHO…I think I got the silver Dolly Madison coming. Cant remember now if I bought it or bid as my internet went down and they cant be out to fix until Friday. We are hostages to only 2 companies where i live and read that if competitors come out to hook up neighbor they will disconnect other companies in process. Had new folks move in other side so may be what happened. Dolly was bought for her voluptuous breast package. ONLY reason, I liked the design…cheers mate!

” premiums on silver were capped at low point”..the sellers have to make a living. My silver dice (2) were bought and shipped for $40. 1 oz each. That is $14.55 times 2. I paid extra $10 and change for them. If spot goes up i may make money but point is they made maybe 6 to 8 dollars off that as it included shipping/ins. Give em a break..

CleavlandRocks my brother, No, just this one. The last 2 golds were the baseball proof and 2009 UHR. I’m disabled and my money is very hard to come by. Try enjoying life, whatever form you desire, you might like it. I won’t say what I think your type is.

stephen m: I’m a Rust-Belt real American that used to have excitement and passion about our hobby, but these circus PC coins are destroying our hobby and it’s now become some sort of sick business for TPGs.

I’d refuse delivery or just return the expensive trinket and buy a common date St. Gauden’s NGG or PCGS graded ms 63 or 64 and you will be thrilled with the beauty and authenticity, and it is a safe investment. This is what the TPGs are for.
If you don’t have a modern proof gold Buffalo, you will be amazed at the beauty of this coin too (in OGP). The wood display box seriously is fantastic too.

Thanks for the support guys. The US mint always surprises us one way or another 🙂

Hawkster, coin was shipped already. I could return and reorder. However, this can back fire. Shipping fees+return shipping=$$$. Mint might surprise me again by shipping the new coin right away. More $$$.

Dog is a Fox Terrier. Maybe not the price of the HR, but for Mrs. he is worth $$$$$$$.

I would Like to purchase some Kennedy Wooden Boxes for the 2015 high relief Liberty ( Directly from the Mint). I know it’s not a perfect fit and the Kennedy Box is Not as good as the Buffalo box, but it is better than Old Blackie…

@Billy – there probably are a couple of reasons… first the design process is probably part of it. The second would seem to be the actual HR processing is little more labor intensive. Actually the 3rd might be because the mint is hoping to sell all 50,000 and make extra money doing it…

I appreciate that cag. Life can sometimes be full of unexpected events. The last time this kind of thing happened was in 2009. And now just when I thought I was getting the latest new Liberty, I find out that I’m going to have to be very creative just hold on to life as I know it. For this reason I don’t like to refer to myself as a collector…too much weight.

I ordered my Lady Liberty. I figured I have 2 months to change my mind but if it sells out…I also need to thank the board as I thought this would be a Proof coin not a business strike but after reading the posts it makes sense to match the UHR.

Louis, Thanks for asking. Yes, I will, but I have some big huddles ahead. Finances can be tricky business at times.
I’ll stick with the RP dollars for now, since they’re about as foolproof as a Mint product can get.

HR’s arrived. both looked fantastic under 10x loop. I’m quite pleased. Now they can sky rocket or tank, I didn’t buy just to turn around and sell.

Now something that should be of concern to those that do buy and or sell on the secondary market. The packaging I received had the shipping label on the flat non-seam side. I could have easily used a heat gun to open the box and remove the contents (I have successfully, easily preformed that experiment in the past). I could have put a piece of lead back inside. I could have cherry picked, saved the box, and send the replacements into a TPG for FS grading. So what I’m saying is people that buy, or could be returned from a sale, sealed boxes should be very careful. If it’s happened it hasn’t been widespread (that we know, people might be sitting on boxes they believe have something valuable in), but the Mint is making it easy to happen. It doesn’t just have to be the HR, it could be any product that they ship this way, and with the IKEs coming up you know their will be plenty of unopened packages of two selling.

Stephan M – I seem to recall during the UHR that the Mint used on average one die for 500 strikes. I could be mistaken. I also want to say the pressure was 30 tons. The UHR also used a multiple piece collar containing the edge lettering, different from the SAC and prez dollars which is add post strike.

FM – At the very least I’d settle for a shrink wrap tamper seal band around the capsule and tamper seal around the box. As for stamping a number on the coin, that would detract from its design. Perhaps if they could do a micro serial number like they do on high end diamonds (require a microscope or dinolite to read). But then watch the premiums go higher.

FM – At the very least I’d settle for a shrink wrap tamper seal band around the capsule and tamper seal around the box. As for stamping a number on the coin, that would detract from its design. Perhaps if they could do a micro serial number like they do on high end diamonds (require a microscope or dinolite to read). But then watch the premiums go higher.

Or just put it on the edge. There technology to them micro engraved QUICKLY out there!

@Mark- hard to make a judgement with the few pics that I have seen so far of the HR coins on Ebay. Many are copying the same one or two photos and using them in their listing.
But, my overall take from what I have seen so far is there not much chance of having any PL coins. Everything I have seen so far indicates a finish very similar to the Unc. AGE. It also appears to me that any flaw whatsoever will be very noticeable in the fields and should reduce the percentage of 70’s given by the TPG’s. I will wait until I see mine, hoping for the best. One thing I have noticed lately though is First In to order doesn’t always mean you will receive the best coins. Sometimes the best come later in the ordering process. You really never know…

@Mark- these OGP flippers should either send their coins back within the 7 days if they can’t afford to hold them, OR wait until we get a sellout. I think they can make a few bucks if that happens. JMHO

GoldFishin ;
You got that right !
I have had a subscription on 5 oz. pucks for many years ( since the Mint allowed subscription on pucks ) for some reason I have been getting terrible coins for the last four releases . Sent this last one back for replacement and ordered another because one person at the Mint told me they would not replace ( that was a refund ) . Now I have two and they are both terrible ( huge dings in them ) . I guess pucks are not quality anymore ?

@Goldfishin…agree 100% ..Hang on until they sell out if you have disposable cash. Or send them back ASAP because that guy lost between $75.00 to $100.00. Hes not a power seller..does not have a store and iam sure the buyer paid with paypal for protection. Rule number one ..if selling high dollar coins open a ebay store.

Cag – I was always fond of the Peace Dollar eagle. I also like the original SAC eagle. The eagle on the St. Gaudens is nice too, but I’ve heard it referred to as a turkey in the past. The eagle that was intended for the failed 1oz. Palladium would have been one badassed eagle. This one on the HR is pretty nice I have to admit.

Is it true when a flipper on eBay sells a coin for less than he paid for it, a collector gets his wings? Some generous folks out there. A week or two until a sell out and they could have hyped it for a $200 profit.

GoldFishin and Goat – I no longer use the subscription feature. The Mint was inconsistent send those out and I don’t like packages showing up out of the blue (emails were sporadic). When they did the discount for subscriptions that was nice, until they pulled the plug just before the years last release, and assumed it’s current hefty premium over spot.

VA Bob ;
Yelp ! The subscription is not what it used to be ( very poor ) , may disco mine and go back to ordering on my own time . Poor service .

cagcrisp ; HR looks very good . You asked witch one I liked the most I have to state BOTH ! LOL HR has it’s own qualities a little different from UHR. ” coin pops different ” With the HR (24) .9999 Fine Gold makes this coin . I feel this is a must have coin , today or tomorrow something to look forward too for some and if prices get cheaper those who question should acquire one . Markets may get cheaper near future but what goes down will go back up , who knows someday the coin might be worth it’s weight in gold when gold hits $5000 mark ?

GF – unless the flippers have a 70 listed, they had better be PRAYING for a Sell Out ASAP, otherwise I’m not sure this is going to end well for them.., silly little flippers! That return clock is ticking…

Who is willing to guess how many returns there will be to the mint this week? If the coin does not sellout and the big dealers need to return the undesirable coins that will not grade high, and the common flipper needs to recoup money from lost ebay sales then I say an adjustment of about 6500 coins.

Rob, I’m hesitant to say at the risk of setting off some folks out here that seem to have a strong emotional attachment to this coin, want to personalize comments, and assume us detractors want this coin to fail but we’re really talking #’s and past trends.., so what the heck. I shared over the weekend with a couple out here via back channel that I though it would be around 6,000. So we’re thinking the same

also, found this on provident’s site: “When the final design is released in 2015, our product development team plans to produce 1,000 silver and 1,000 copper limited mintage proof sets including box and papers to commemorate the series. These sets will consist of ten 5 oz proof versions of each of the Zombucks designs, a total weight of 50 oz per set. Each commemorative set will include one 5 oz proof Walker, one 5 oz proof Morgue-Anne, and so on.”

As Louis said earler, I think the big dealers are in it for the long haul, I see them returning very little. There will be some small flippers that return the coin, but personally with the very positive 42k sales number for basically 4 days, I would be shocked to see a substantial decrease in sales. More likely to me would be a smaller increase in sales than expected as returns offset new purchases. The reviews coming in from most of the collectors here on MNB are positive for the HR coin. Partner that with the recent rapid uptick in purchases for US Mint gold coins and it will be very difficult to print a negative number, but who knows….I sure don’t.

This thing has a Lot of different ways it could play out. IF you don’t want to keep it, I sure would not be buying on the Hope of flipping. So far with only 6 True Auctions, I don’t see a lot of flippers. I do Not think we will have to wait a week for numbers to come out. IF you recall the Silver BHOF coins, they gave out numbers during the week. The next Print number will be key. IF the Mint releases a number before next week, Look out. They will not release a number unless it is Favorable and IF it’s 45,000 or Above, Look out…

1. I have the high relief Liberty….And
2. I would like to buy more, I just don’t want to do it this week (or next)
3. SO..l.IF it lingers for a while, that is Great for me
4. I just don’t think that will happen

SO… how is that for a bias? I have and would like for prices to go Up. I’m a Buyer and would like for prices to go Down.

@KCSO- Cagcrisp is the king of numbers….I just analyze information that comes from various sources and try to get an understanding of a given products popularity and aftermarket value. As a longer term collector, it is important to me to acquire products that can help me defray the costs of my keeper collection. Sometimes there are coins that I just like, and have to find other means to help pay for them. Cagcrisp is learning the coin side of coins so fast that he may soon be able to write very capable introductory headings with tremendous analytical insight into the numbers. His post a couple days ago about recent disappearances of US Mint offerings was only lacking an introductory paragraph and it could have been a new thread on MNB, all researched and presented by his individual work. I am not even in the same hemisphere, even if I had time for it.

I saw a question about the Mint’s e-gift certificate process. The gift certificate orders are treated like any physical order, you get the order ack and confirmation emails, and take on average about 48 hours to go from processing to “shipped” status. The e-cert with its unique random 16-character code is sent to the purchaser NOT to the recipient you designate. You also get a “your order has been shipped@ email also though there’s no physical order involved. If you’re looking to gift someone with their own Ike C&C set, you have until tomorrow to get a gift certificate back by Tuesday’s noon drop. And the gift cents only come in five preset amounts: $25, $50, $75, $100 & $200. Sorry if it has been answered earlier.

I guess you could say I have been smoking Kool Aid for the hopium for a long time ( that’s the best way of saying it ) LOL . In my time I have seen the PM markets lose over half of it’s value many times . Always turns around into a Bull market and most of the time prices goes higher than the last high . I’m not stating the prices will change over night , but will change . Yes I feel lower prices before we get higher prices but October is not far off , a lot of information will be released at that time , can this country handle it ? IMO

I just got my coin and I am very pleased with it. I like the design, though I think some foreign mints like Perth could have done a better job executing it.

The main reason it has not sold out yet is most people think if they order now they will have to wait until Oct. 1 for their coin to ship. Yet look at how many people ordered when it had that date yet they have their coins already. This is what hurts the momentum of sales. And dealers who want to have their coins graded also are deterred. Dave Harper of NN just reinforced the misperception about backorders in his blog. I tried to get the word out, but I can only do so much.

Glad you guys like the coin. I had to order one myself. I studied up on this one quite a bit and decided to get the signed Miles Standish pcgs-70 FS… Good luck to all that purchased one. Looking forward to receiving it. 🙂

As an interesting comparison, the gold Kennedy sold, in its first week, 83% of the final product limit. It then took nearly a year to sell the rest of about 15% to date (there still remain about 2.25% unsold). I’m not saying this will happen again, but the coins are similar enough that the pattern may repeat. The biggest driver affecting sales were price changes. The Kennedy saw a drop the first week from the pre-announcement price; so did the Liberty.
If gold drops another $40 in the next 2 weeks, that would mirror the price pattern of the first 3 weeks of the Kennedy. I haven’t been following the sales numbers for the bullion gold and correlating them to gold price changes, but I suspect there is an influence there as well.

“Rob, I’m hesitant to say at the risk of setting off some folks out here that seem to have a strong emotional attachment to this coin …”

Indeed. I passed on this one and I am quite happy to have done so. The obverse design was a factor (loved that “Xena” design) but also to me, the Mint has given less than what they initially said they would, like a UHR, which excited me because that would have been a good companion to the 2009 UHR which I have in OGP, imagine two UHR side by side in their presentation boxes, but not to be. (Though this one has the UH8 product designation by the Mint, dunno why they could not change it to reflect the actual coin)

The fact that the Mint was also going to issue a silver medal excited me, but this too has fallen by the wayside without much, if any explanation as to why. Then we have the presentation boxes in which they come in, this coin is supposedly the start of something new or a companion to the UHR (though in my book, not, as it is not a UHR) yet there has been no effort to put it in a nicer box, preferably one like the Unc FS gold coins …I mean even the 2011, 2012 and 2013 ASE sets came in wooden presentation boxes and the ASEs look quite beautiful displayed in them. (and they were priced much less) .

I am not putting down the HR coin itself but I am just highlighting what the Mint have said they would do (as I remember it) but didn’t and how they could have done more for this coin in terms of a better box as befitting its status but they probably thought a lot will go to the TPGs anyway so why bother? ….all IMO and I’ve slowly lost my enthusiasm for the Mint’s offerings 2014 proof platinum was the last big ticket item I bought so that I could complete the Preamble series …. then 2016 for the Mark Twain, the National Park Service and the Standing Liberty Quarter all gold … then 2019 if there is the Moon Landing Comm. and to try keep up with the RP’s that come out but could change to a type set soon …

I like some of the fancy packaging some of the issues had, but i gotta say I wish the Mint would move back to the simpler, easier to store boxes. How many times have we waited for boxes to arrive from “overseas”, no less, so the coins could ship? The fancy boxes started in 2006 with the 20 year anniversary issues. Then we saw it migrate to the 2007 gold buffalos. Very nice, but a storage nightmare. The mint could easiely sell wooden boxes (like someone on TV we all know) on the side, with different inserts for various coin sizes, for the folks that absolutly need them. My guess is most would learn to live without them.

Joe #2 – I love the classic designs. But the Mint is really using them as a crutch, and need to find their way without relying on 100 year old + designs. The problem is execution. When the classics were first released, they had their detractors too. I fell safe in saying few thought our coinage then would become so popular years in the future. The problem for the Mint today is that people want to be wowed from the start. I beleive we need good, vetted by the people, designs, scrap the circulating designs we have now, and keep the government bureaucracy out of it.

VA Bob… the mint has had a great platform for developing classic as well as new designs – the commemorative coins have given them plenty of topics to be diverse on. Instead they have done poorly on many of the recent designs – in fact it is safe to say they are losing buyers and not gaining new ones. Given that these are the same people tasked with offering new designs – I think I’ll stick to classics.

@Louis- I read Dave Harper’s article….sounds like a hater to me. 🙂 Just kidding of course.
He makes some good points, but I have disagree somewhat with the direct comparison with the JFK gold. The JFK did not have a mintage limit at the beginning of the offering. The US Mint made it clear that they would mint as many as necessary to meet collector demand at least through the end of 2014. They also indicated they had enough resources in hand to mint 75K, but would mint more if they needed to. In others words, when the JFK began sales there was no mintage limit, no end in sight of possible production, and no chance of an early sellout. The 75K mintage limit came months later after the proverbial writing on the wall had been read by the mint officials.

thePhelps – Agreed, but to be fair many of these commemoratives designs were legislated by the government with strick guidelines. The Mint has less freedom of design than it did 100 years ago. The classics will aways be a popular crowd pleaser, but what does that say about the country? That our best days are behind us? It does feel that way sometimes.

@GoldFishin, You told me you were keeping your eyes on the $, oil and Gold. Current wisdom keeps pointing towards a Stronger $ which in turn is causing problems with oil and Gold. There is a Lot of people on one side of the trade, IF/When we get a rate increase, what IF all that has already been backed in the cake? We could see a sharp reversal/rebound. What IF all these commodities are Oversold? It’s still early to catch a falling knife but I think in September we have a chance for a rate increase and I don’t see the sky falling. I’m not saying fight the tape, just be prepared when the tape stops, pauses and goes in the opposite direction, be prepared.

I got out of the XLE on 4/30 @ $83.26 and every day this week it has hit 52 week low. We’re talking 5% in the last 5 days. GLD is down 9% in 47 days.

My experience with us mint gift certificates were not positive. I the past you could not use two gift certificates in one transaction. One per tan action meant I had to cover the difference on my card and pay separate shipping on separate orders. Vowed never to get one again.

cag… IF there is going to be a rate increase it will be this year, and sooner rather than later. The fact is the rates have been kept low – has been done so through the entire Obama presidency… and they don’t want the affects to impact the next election – and be bad for politicians. That points to a earlier than expected increase… to see if the economy stablizes.

@VA Bob… I agree that there are guidelines the designers have to adhere to… but even in those they have offered very few real winners. Those that look to many to be sure fire hits – were left on the sidelines. Even the Liberty had a wide open list of things they could have used… and most here panned the majority of them (except the more exotic offerings were…drolled over).

@Ends in Error: Agreed! I look forward to the 2019 Apollo Coin. I hope to see a big HR. Off Topic, I have the entire 1988 America In Space set except the 10 oz gold piece. Never have seen one for sale. I keep one of the 12oz silver pieces visible in my safe for inspiration.

@Cag- my thoughts exactly…if we do ever get a rate increase…I am not so sure. But, yes…much of the damage has to be baked in. Additionally if we get a possible regime change in the future…I think everything that is getting destroyed now will be something one will want to own IF that happens. I was on the scene in 1999-2000…when the average guy was piling into internet stocks, the smart money was quietly accumulating all things commodity. They made fortunes in the following decade. History does not always repeat exactly, but the template frequently does. I try to think forward and am still contemplating our current environment. All I know is that when the price of anything…whether it be gold, silver, housing, oil, grains, etc. fall well below the cost of production or below the material cost, you normally don’t go wrong to dip you toes in.

@D R: Just say something like, ” I see you may have the 2 products mixed up in what they offer. The “set?” in question/compassion contains a 1 oz silver medal, similar to the SE, which would make it more valuable as far as what it costs the US Mint to make…Or something similar…It is NOT that hard and it is NICE, try it, you just might like it….:)

I actually do not think the black core makes this coin POP like the proof do…I actually think it looks better in the white core, maybe because of MS…Not sure, maybe because label is white? A golden flake type label would’ve been cool. Since there are so many labels now, I see a huge potential to use some type of art work on them and make them sort of works of art in their own right…Not a label chaser, just saying…

FM,
Read the Mint’s gold report on bullion sales. I couldn’t find July spikes for the last 3 years. There was an article in Bloomberg on June 10/11 titled ‘Even coin collectors have given up on gold’. Included were charts from 2011 to 2014 (with a bump up in 2013) showing the decline. So the next month after the article, there is this large spike in AGEs and BUFFs. Is this another head fake by Wall Street?
What I don’t understand is how the huge number of bonds ‘sold’ to the Fed by Treasury in 2009 and 2010 be redeemed in 2019 and 2020 with interest? More shell games? And what could be the impact on the value of the dollar and thus gold?

I got a UHR back in 2009 which had die polish marks really bad. I returned the Coin and never did reorder because the mintage numbers just wouldn’t stop. I didnt especially like the small diameter of the Coin either. No regrets about never reordering.

One of my HR Liberties is also die polished but it doesn’t really bother me. I may return it, don’t know yet.

@Mark- Watched the video…by Salivatemetal…no doubt about it, those are first strike coins with bad die polish marks….it would go back if it was mine. Not paying the steep price for something like that. They should not grade 70 either, just for lack of eye appeal.

The video Cagcrisp linked to did not have them, I watched that one twice frame by frame, that coin had really great luster and was picking up all sorts of reflections from the devices and details of the coin. His fingerprints were also reflecting on the surface fields. That coin was a keeper and very nice. Again, we have seen if before with almost every issue. There will be coins that are nicer than others, and some that don’t have good eye appeal.

The 2009 UHR from the mint looked real good that I received but the HR Liberty has about a 1/2 inch long scrape or gouge on the reverse side rim that faces up. Yea, pretty nasty looking. It’s going back. I can’t understand how it even passed by QA. Guess they must just spot check. Needless to say how disappointed I am with that one.

@cagcrisp- take what you read in the coin community forum with a large grain of salt. Half of them don’t even understand the question asked, which wasn’t asked correctly to begin with, and the other half who understood the question, didn’t provide accurate information or were answering what they thought the question was supposed to be. I got dizzy just reading the responses.

stephen m… most manufacturing facilities don’t have the ability to check every item sold. The mint is no different. I’d suspect they take samples off of production and look for common errors and flaws – but seriously doubt they have anyone looking at 50,000 coins to see if there are issues. If they see a production issue they’ll stop pull the product back to the last sample and start over – but that also means there are going to be coins that get past the quality control… it is inevitable.

@Joe#2- They were supposed to be talking Canadian coins, which I don’t collect, there seemed to be one poster that tried to bring everything together and differentiate between US and Canadian coins, even the poster who originally posted the question, tried a second time to clarify what he was asking, but not everyone understood the main thread subject was Canadian Coins, so you had Americans answering to the best of their ability their experience with PL coins and Canadians likewise, hence the confusing array of responses.

LOL, what if you just rough up a PL coin and try to pass it off as Circulation Strike? 🙂

I used to collect the RCM P-L sets when before the RCM morphed into a circus-coin bonanza company. The Voyageur and other silver Loonies are awesome.

For those that remember me from years ago on this blog, I mentioned that I refuse to buy a RCM coin with the “old lady queen” obverse since I don’t like ugly coins. ’15 HR has a nice reverse, but hideous obverse.

Thephelps your right who would expect quality control on a $1500 item . So what your saying is for all to deal with it because that’s the way it is. LMMFAO it hideous to think the mint let’s poor quality out the door . I’m a shamed that our government has no care in the world what leaves the facilities. These represent our monetary coinage it’s ont a penny, nickel or dime . These should be all 70’s and to boot you get a cardboard box to store it in.

When I am a long time buyer of 5 oz. Pucks and receive crap ( The last four in the series ) I have looked at three different ones and they all are crap ! I really really don’t think I will last until 2021 , this Blue Ridge Parkway might be my last ride . If you take a 10x loop down the road full of pot holes and hit a wall on the other side of the tunnel “3 TIMES” it’s time to find a new ride ! I have a case of Poor Customer Satisfaction . What really stinks is that coin is one of the few I liked the most . My only hope is melt value ? Just had to vent I got these two in the last few days to replace a very very terrible one good news is they are getting better these two might grade a 60 , WOW . I am starting to see a pattern ” Loyalty ? ”

Did someone or the Mint ever release a video of the HR Liberty being produced? I know there was a short video of the Kennedy gold being fed at the coining press in W Point and a tray of proofs ….. just wondering .. Or even “in progress” photos of the HR …..

Joe, I’ll sell you a set without spots this evening. Shoot me an email to address I listed early this afternoon, & the RP will be spotless and nick free. Free shipping and well complete via PayPal – thanks!

KCSO.. I appreciate it, But i’m waiting to get in my 2015-w liberty first… I paid very high premium like everyone else that bought pcgs-70’s and have to see how that one is first. Been reading a lot of damages on these coins on coin news net, A lot of complaints on rim damage and hairline scratches… read some of these from today if you haven’t already.

“As of 12 a.m. Wednesday, the Mint has sold 42,167 of the 50,000 coins that will be sold, meaning it’s unlikely the product will still be availabe when the bourse(ANA) opens to the public on Aug. 11. ”

Was he predicting a sell out by the 11th, or just that all available coins are in the queue at the fulfillment center to be shipped out to customers. Either a bold prediction or maybe just not clear enough in his statement.

Agree 100% on your everyday run-of-the-mill circulating coinage. But really, a coin that is HR and is hand inserted and removed from the press and hand inserted into the mint capsule has SOOOOO many eyes on it that eyeball obvious problems are disregarded is a DISGRACE! The expectation of a culture of QUALITY is totally lacking in Mint leadership. When Joe Average can look at a coin and see obvious flaws that are disregarded by employees, that’s just unacceptable.
I have had the same problem with the LESPS, the SPS, and the AGE series. It is even more cumbersome now that you can’t just ask for a replacement, but must wait for your credit card to be refunded (which often takes multiple calls to CS to resolve) and then reorder IF THE COIN IS STILL AVAILABLE by the time you get the refund.

@GoldFishin, I saw the same comment. Just an irresponsible comment in my opinion. It’s anyone guess as to whether these coins will/will Not Sell out by that date…

The question I have is how many cancellations are in the 42,167 number? If there are None then Sales are weak, IF there are 3,000 cancellations then Sales are strong. IF that is a net number you just can’t draw any true conclusions without knowing the cancellations number…

To delve into the fray about what is and is not a ‘business strike’. A business strike is a coin produced via the ‘normal’ production line mechanics, and subject to the ‘normal’ QA/QC measures. All of the non-MM bullion coins are business strikes. The AtB S mint rolls (and P and D, as well) are business strikes. The 10 coin circulating AtB packs are business strikes. The mint sets USED to be, but since 2005 with the satin finish through 2010 and regular finish since have a somewhat better treatment, both in planchets and dies.
While the Liberty HR is not a Proof in the conventional sense, it still is a proof since it did get special treatment and multiple strikes. While not shiny like proofs, all you have to do is look at the most recent matte proofs – the ’94 and ’97 nickels from the Coin and Currency sets or the ’98 Kennedy from the Special Collectors set – to see the similarity.
As has been mentioned several times, these coins with proof-like finishes are the result of worn dies being polished. Most recent example is the enhanced uncirculated from the Kennedy silver set. Fresh dies produced the diagonal striping which many found objectionable. Worn dies produced the smooth ‘proof-like’ finishes which many lusted after. So while we may intellectually understand the differences, when all is said and done, we like what we like, and that is what ultimately determines the value of the coin.

Piggybacking on what Jeff said above,
The irony here is that people are going after those coins produced from late-stage dies versus those that are actually produced from fresh dies (“First Day”/”Early Release” coins). Maybe PCGS and NGC should have “Last Day” and “Late Release” labels to capitalize on this.

Some observations from the Above numbers for the 2015 high relief Liberty:

1. Over 50% of ALL offering are 69’s or 70’s
2. 90% of Grading offerings are 70’s
3. 90+% of Graded offerings are those that have a Feedback score Above 1000
4. 84+% of Non Graded Auction Only coins have a Feedback score Under 1000

SO…From the raw Sales orders numbers we had Opening Day, we surmised that Dealers/Big Boys/TGP’s were buying vast numbers of coins. This appears to be playing out as those are those are the ones Offering the Graded coins. Also it appears that the Small time Flippers are NOT participating because of Overall low number of True Auctions…

Conclusion for ME, If you want a Graded 70 you will be able to get one and IF you want a bargain (Mint less than issue price), it Currently is not happening…

It seems to me that the graded pcgs or ngc -70’s are the way to go on the lady liberty because of all i’m hearing and seeing with the nics and hairlines.. I guess you have to spend approx: $1,000 or more premium to get these the way you want them… Things have changed since the early 1970/s… lol

@joe#2- I personally would not count on a graded coin being exactly what you will be happy with. NGC grades on a post production basis, meaning only flaws that occur after the coin has been produced. The die polish marks that are evident in some photos we have seen are not post production and although not that pretty to look at are not considered as flaws, like nicks. dents, or hairlines would be. Of course both graders, PCGS and NGC, always have the fallback criteria of eye appeal. PCGS places a high degree of emphasis on eye appeal.
I think the only thing you are assured of by paying over $1000 premium for a graded coin is that you are most likely overpaying. Don’t get me wrong, I also want to have a graded example, but I am going to submit my own to NGC if they are nice enough to be submitted. If you do buy a graded coin from someone, especially if you pay big bucks, make sure they have a return policy in case you are not happy with it.

Darn if a few of these TPG’s could just figure out a really special spectacular extraordinary label that was so in demand that the actual coin wasn’t even a factor anymore.

Or are we already there? From what I hear, if a slab has a “70” on it, the Coin goes for a certain price. It may look just like another Coin that’s in a “69” labeled slab. Can the buyers of 70’s really appreciate any actual quality differences over a 69’d Coin? Or are they just drinking Starbucks coolaid ?

Quality differences is return on your money . On some older coins that are 65 grade may be $100 but a 66 grade may be $300 or more . In some older cases 67 grade is the best that has been found . Today is a new game 69/70 grade is the worst , will these hold value tomorrow ? I was always told collect the best and you will always be in the best of the money .
Higher the grade , more coffee please .

@A different Jeff- excellent and very well written post. You must have an educational background. I collect high grade Mercury dimes.I try to find examples with colorful or rainbow like toning. Some of my highest grade coins have die polish marks that are sometimes painful for me to look at under magnification, but they also have some of the best luster and are gorgeous to look at with the naked eye. I have a very few dimes that are in the top 10 or 15 finest known examples and I only own them because I got lucky and got them at bargain basement prices.
Having said that, it is understandable to me that business strike coins from the 1920’s or 30’s would have heavy die polish marks. What is not acceptable to me, is that a Modern high end unc. coin that is getting proof treatment should have dies that even start out with such visible die polish lines given the level of technological advances that are at the disposal of the US Mint. I mean it looks like they hand polished at least a few of those dies with 220 grit sandpaper. Being facetious of course, but you get my point.
The High Relief coin is very reflective precisely because of the high relief. This makes viewing the coin with very visible die polish marks even more painful for me, as they reflect and bounce around all over the coin, also reflecting off the capsule or holder, whichever the case may be. In my opinion, it should not happen to the degree I am seeing with a few of the coins that have been videoed or photographed. As I stated before, IF all the dies utilized started out in this fashion, there will be no legitimate PL coins this time around. The best chance at a PL coin will be with the last 10k or so coins yet to be produced, as some coin related websites have speculated, is indeed accurate.
In summary, it is understood that die polish lines are a normal occurrence with business strike or circulating coinage, but in my opinion should not happen with a coin such as the HR coin. It is also understood that the HR coins with the evident die polish lines are struck by dies that are early in their die life, however hoping for a coin that has been struck later is not a bad thing to hope for. The average die life for the Gold JFK was only 600 coins. We are not talking missing letters, features, or legs here, as in 75 to 250 year old US circulating coinage that used dies until they literally cracked and broke apart. I am only talking missing heavy polish lines, which shouldn’t be there to begin with.

@Goat- to be clear..my dime collection is very much a work in progress. I just got lucky a couple of years ago when a seller on Ebay liquidated a long time collection that had a registered pedigree with PCGS. I was able to purchase a couple within my budget. Those opportunities don’t come around often, but I am patient. Part of the fun of collecting to me is trying to get a real bargain, being “cheap and built to stay that way”, as someone here on MNB has stated often.

My wife likes checking the return slot on the Coinstar machine were she works and found a 1945 mercury dime,
it was dark from toning but in really nice condition. I see people pouring change into that machine and wonder??

If it matters to anyone, Coin Update has posted today an updated US Mint Sales Report reflecting sales through Aug. 2, and comparing those figures with the previous week’s numbers. The last one was updated back on June 24, reflecting sales up to June 21.

Not sure if I’m going to stick with the Coin Update format or change over to the Coin News format, but at least Coin Update’s report is baaaaaack.

Couple weeks ago I received order of 5 different First Spouse gold coins shipped in 2 boxes. For the first time I had to return all of them because all coins had scratches and marks visible by the naked eye. Now I have a problem to get my refund from the Mint because people working for new contractor don’t know how to submit refund form to the credit department. I am buying coins from the Mint for over 10 years now, and I never ask my credit card company to get my money back. After the return I spoke to couple management people and each time they got everything wrong. Today I asked to be connected to the DC HQ credit department and they said they don’t have the number. After this I called my Visa and they will work with the Mint and I don’t have to deal with incompetent CS at 1-800.

@Darek- just wondering, I know it is probably a moot question, but did you complete the online return request and get the prepaid label for your return, or did you just complete the paper return form that came with your package?
I have had a couple of returns since the changeover and I experienced no problems, other than not being refunded for a double shipping charge. I was just wondering if this was a new problem in the last little while, or not.

Here is an added DJIA question
What was the best preforming DJIA stock this year, until it tanked yesterday …and that I will be holding shares of along with things like first spouse gold coins until…. I die or it recovers

GoldFishin- I called them and I requested prepaid label for my returns as I usually do when coins arrive damaged. Than I packed the coins with the form and I dropped the box at UPS. 3 days later they called me that they received my coins and told me that refund will be made within 3-5 days. Before I always received email confirmation that they received my packages, but this time they called me and they did everything wrong. I hope they don’t block my account after the fight.

@Bill Sometimes I think I should set up shop next to one and offer to buy people’s rejects. I have bought the occasional silver coin for face value because they reject out of the machine. Only once has someone smiled and said “no” and that was because he knew it was a silver coin. He had his own stories for me. Once someone asked he if he had just sold a rare coin, I said “no” since I buy them based on color and never examine them before offering to buy. It’s also great for foreign coins. Occasionally you get a left over hoard of Canadian or Euro change.

@cag- the pictures are rather poor, I agree that the Reverse looks PL from what I can tell, the obverse not as much, but the precedent has been set. Wonder how many more will be on the way. I was hoping they didn’t polish all the dies the same way, I mean we are talking 80 something dies(guess) for the entire mintage. Since there was at least one die that produced that PL effect on the coin, you would think there would be a minimum of maybe 20 to 100 coins from that one die alone. Finally, something exciting to talk about.

So at what magnification are people looking at their HR’s to see the die polish marks? I have to get mine under the digital microscope to see any of the signs of manufacturing. Beautiful luster to the naked eye. I believe it was determined here months ago that the TPG’s use a 5X loop (if at all) for the 3 seconds a coin spends in their hands. I saw Salivates Metal’s video and the one Cag posted, what a difference between the two.

A coin collector : Let me see how can I get people to come dispose of their loose coins that they have been accumulating over the years in exchange for dollar bills, and they will think I’m doing them a favor?

@Va Bob- Like you said before, the coin really doesn’t take to photography all that well. The Reverse is just gorgeous, especially in the coin #3. The lighting is too strong for the obverse, the light is just bouncing all over the place.
Yea, NGC is 5x………PCGS keeps everything close to the vest, but they use similar standards, just more flexibility with the very subjective “eye appeal”. I have to admit though, once you have seen 50 of the same coin, the one’s with more eye appeal really begin to stand out. Have you done any PL tests to see if yours are close?

My question is these coin’s can grade 70 with old dies and I am unable to get a Blue Ridge Parkway 5 oz. puck that will grade over 60 after receiving three of them and ordering all three at different times ( one was subscription and was one of the first to be shipped it was the worst of the three ) ?

Two poitns:
1.) NGC has announced they already graded some coins PL. PCGS, as far as I know, has not. Has anyone heard concrete evidence otherwise?
2.) I know this will disappoint some people but I am leaning towards returning my HR coin. First, this is a busy period and Sept, will bring more coins I am interested in, and Two, I like the concept and the design, but I feel the Mint rushed the production and did not quite get it right, and that is apparent from the highly divided opinions. Part of the problem is the Mint still does not have a good real-time inventory system that matches orders to what coins have been struck, so those buying think they are going to have to wait months for their coins, which is a turn off. But as I have noted, most orders are shipping in days, so something is out of whack.

This is destroying the aftermarket potential for non-graded coins. If I am going to pay a large premium over spot, I want a coin that grabs me and won’t let gp and/or has a low mintage, etc. In this case I think our mint simply is not on the level of world mints that have experience producing high relief coins like Perth, the French Mint, and Polish Mint in particular , which produce such coins regularly. We should have swallowed our pride and consulted with them as we did with the baseball coins. In the end, this coin simply is not catching on as it should because the execution was flawed. It is a shame really.

pardons the 2 typos. must be separation anxiety as I was really excited about this coin and wish the Mint had taken the care they did with the 2009 coin. But in that case they had something to copy and study and got it right. Not this time. And mine is not bad quality wise, but not PL.

Goat,
In regard to the BRP (P) pucks which you received from the Mint: What are the flaws in these coins that are making you disappointed in their quality?
On the one I received, the outer rim is not of a consistent width. In one area of the coin the width narrows– it’s as if the die struck the coin planchet in a slightly offset manner.

I agree KCSO….we need a change. I guess Tuesday will be here soon enough. We might still be on the same thread. Sigh….what a wet blanket. Haven’t even got my coins yet and the eulogy has been given. Going to watch something on the big screen. 🙁

@Hawkster- even my good Kisatchie ATB’s….I ordered 10 to maybe get a few good keepers….. had the issue you are describing…..and they were the good ones. I don’t intend to order any more until they get their act together. I think the quality went downhill last year beginning with the Arches and hasn’t improved in my opinion. I am just buying the bullion Atb’s now, they aren’t supposed to be perfect, so I can live with them. Sigh again…

@Hawkster- they looked like planchet clips, but didn’t completely go through the other side, I thought about submitting them for error designation, but decided against it. Other than that, they were ok and I kept them.

GoldFishin,
Yeah, it’s pretty disappointing when we spend the extra money for the P versions of the pucks, only to receive them with these types of problems. You would think that the appropriate Mint employees would visually inspect them to insure that they have a flawless appearance to the naked eye.

GoldFishin – I’m not interested in any of the services that TPG’s provide for modern coinage. I’m pleased with the coins and if I weren’t they would be on their way back now. Sorry to hear those that got bad coins, that’s why I usually order two sets to ensure quality, but that’s usually with the lower priced offerings. This was an exception and for me it worked out well.

I understand some folks like “PL”, but if it’s a burnished, satin, or business strike and it looks like a proof, it can only mean worn dies. The good thing is that that artifacts like die polish marks are so fine they typically wear off after a few strikes, long before the devices suffer the degradation. “PL” goes a little bit further to get a semi-mirror shine. Easy for one to check. They should be able to put a small piece of paper with type or writing on it 90 degrees t the surface of the coin. One should be able to make out the reflection that something is there, not necessary able to see the characters on the paper. A true proof should be a mirror image where one can make out the characters from the paper on the coins surface fields.

Personally I put this PL “attribute” one step below ER/FS in the TPG gimmick game. My HR coins have a nice matte finish, though with a nice luster in the fields, as intended. I wouldn’t classify them as PL. If one’s coin has die polish marks visible to the naked eye, they got a coin struck close to when a new die was set. A double edged sword IMO, a genuine first or near first strike on that die anyway. If the marks are a uniform light brushed look and don’t dominate the fields (typically won’t see them on the devices due to the greater metal flow unless the devices are flat) these can still look attractive. All personal preferences in play of course.

The first one had a hole in it just below the road ” hole ” size bigger than the tip of a ball point pin . The other two ordered at different times have rim dings ( looks like been hit with a chisel deep cuts ) at 10:00 all on BRP side . All seen without a loop .

Mike J. – FS/ER is a gimmick because they can’t tell you if your First Strike was the first or the 100, 000 coin struck, just that it got out the Mints door in the first month of issue. Then (some) people pay extra for that nonsense that means very little. If the Mint makes 50K coins, but only has packaging for 10K and the other 40K doesn’t ship for two months, what bearing does that have when the coin was struck? If they were honest they would call it “First Shipped”.

What are you going to do with 2 sets vs. 5 sets?
Before you may sell some of 5 and hold some, with 2 are you going to hold 2?
Will the series be worth more than the sum of the parts?
Will lifting JFK from 25k to 50k dilute the offering?
As GoldFishin said, will 33k orphans be looking for a new home? (or something to that effect)
After the Success of the Trumans there will be new shooters in the game. Will they sell too soon?
Stuff like that. Stimulate a discussion. Don’t wait until a press release from the Mint. Be pro-active instead of re-active…

MNB comments rule #1: Never include more than one phrase which might be interpreted as a URL. Comments which include two or more links are automatically relegated to the black hole known as “awaiting moderation.”

Lou, I’m surprised (& sadden to hear) of your pending divorce.., though suspect you had the same vision I had some time go.., feel free to join me on the detractors bench as the perfect storms brews.., the fishing will be grand, mate!

Louis said:… I know this will disappoint some people but I am leaning towards returning my HR coin. First, this is a busy period and Sept, will bring more coins I am interested in, and Two, I like the concept and the design, but I feel the Mint rushed the production and did not quite get it right, …
… I want a coin that grabs me and won’t let gp and/or has a low mintage, etc. In this case I think our mint simply is not on the level of world mints that have experience producing high relief coins like Perth, the French Mint, and Polish Mint in particular , which produce such coins regularly. …

But wait, you must not have read the Mint’s detailed description of this coin at http://catalog.usmint.gov/UH8.html:• Renders contemporary designs using the latest in modern digital and manufacturing technology
• Evokes the ideals of liberty, courage and hope

@Cag- I think at the very least the extra 33K will have many more collectors that are able to purchase the JFK and not have to go into the secondary market to purchase a set. I think that maybe some of those extra 33K will want to go back and complete the RP series. I am not sure how well prices will hold up for the Truman and Eisenhower sets, but it seems to me the Truman sets have not weakened very much yet…flat lined about $200-$220 BIN, auctions at $185-$200 and it seems they will at least hold their value until we get the last RP of the year. As memories fade and the next must have coin or sets of coins come next year, prices will probably inevitably fall and reach some sort of long term median price. Just like with most any other issue as demand fades and supply equalizes, the coin will then be left to survive on its own merits. Will these be coins that the collecting future has to go back and pick up? Only time will tell. I am not a clad guy, so don’t ask me. They have already far surpassed my expectations.

Mine is still processing and on hold from latter on day one . So now the ? is when to set the hook am thinking sometime near the end but when is that to be? Hope the mint has worn out all the dies and the last 7,000 will all be PL’s that would work how about it mint? Will also try to wait on the pucks after hearing of all the troubles with them of late! This two for Tuesday is going to suck for us little joe’s but will get the fat cats grinning hope they go back to the 5 on the Kennedys ? What is the limit on the NA enhanced 10 maybe? Oh well keep the powder dry and Good Luck To All:>:> :>:>

Cag – they shorted the series long ago. If you recall the Lincoln C & C set sold (out) 50K sets. So I believe it depends how you look at it and if your taking Lincoln, TR, and FDR into consideration as a broader part of the series. Or are those with the RP’s considered a subset?

As far as i’m concerned, The 2009 u h r ‘s had there issues as far as spots and “scratches”… I looked at several and have seen the “orange reddish spot(s)… My opinion, I think they did a great job on the 2015 h r’s, And as we know, It is not u h r as well as proof. The coin was meant to come out as it did…

To expound on Joe #2 comment even though your $1500 coin is dinged, scratched, pitted, discolored, or some other type of damage that can be seen with the naked eye DEAL WITH IT SUCKERS. Enjoy looking at those imperfection day in and day out you must say to yourself is this what i get for $1500. YEP for the future its bullion which looks like it going down, unless you believe what goes down must go up gl with theory.

Is anyone interested in a tutorial comment about how to produce formatted (e.g. bold, italics, indented) comments in MNB? For instance, cagcrisp employs a weird comment style relying random uppercase letters — presumably those his caps are meant to indicate some kind of emphasis. What if he/you knew how to use bold or italics letters in comments, instead? I bet if he knew how to do that, he’d look a 100% brighter.

Received my HR Liberty coin today & I love it. Now for the bad news– The reverse has dings above (of) & the obverse has many very light scratches. Does anyone have the same issues? I’m thinking about sending it back , but afraid I’ll get someone else’s reject. Any suggestions?.

VaBob–You asked about photos of the die polish marks. Our friend SalivateMetal did a very nice short HD video showing ununiform die polish marks, which he found to be highly disappointing and shameful. He compares the marks to similar ongoing problems on 5 oz National Park silver quarters. Hope this helps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOO6CwNFipI

Clark – I’ve seen Salivate Metal’s video. The marks on his coin do seem harsh. Cagcrisp linked another video of a coin that look nice, in HD no less. But thanks for linking the video, others might be interested to see it and compare their own coins to it.

Louis, It does appear the mint rushed the production of the Liberty HR to me also. I feel they could have done better but it is what it is. Mine is in the mail going back for a replacement. If it can’t be replaced I’ll get a credit back on the card and the beat goes on. @jeff, You seem to take great enjoyment at the flaws, and collectors disappointment in their flawed coins with the HR Liberty. Hopefully that won’t damage your karma, but you know the saying.

After reading all of the comments about rim damage and polish scratches, I was happy to find no rim damage and very few polish scratches on my HR. The only real complaint I have is Liberty’s face, seems she will match up well with my Perth Mint Goddess coins.

I received my Second 2015 HR Yesterday and it also has polish marks/scratches and like someone else posted it has a rim ding that is visible on the obverse directly above the OF. Same spot as another poster

Mine will be going back. $1500 at least I would like no dings

with regards to returns, I have never had an issue getting credit. I always include a note and the copy of the original shipping document.

In some cases ( or maybe most )I guess these days you have to buy graded by the 2 big companies to be “satisfied”… I don’t think pcgs or ngc would grade a perfect 70 with dings with several graders looking at the coin(s) submitted. As far as the “scratches”, Yes, They could grade it a perfect 70 because like i said earlier, That’s the way these coins are… The 2009 uhr have the same “scratches” and they are uhr’s as well as proofs…I’m not wild about paying over 1k premium, But this is a piece i decided i wanted to purchase and this is the way the hobby is run these days.. Years ago we were glad to have the grading co. authenticate the coin(s), Especially the U.S. numismatic coins.. I want to have faith still in the U.S. Mint, But more care needs to be acknowledged before these coins are sent to customers.. Bottom line:: You want “perfection”as best as possible, Buy graded..

Louis, I had to wait 7 to 8 days to get a return sticker from the mint. I called about it everyday until they finally e-mailed it to me. It was the 2015-w proof buffalo i sent back because it was freely out of the capsule when i opened the box.

Joe #2- If there was a delay, why not just use the return label that comes with you original order? It’s part of the receipt. It;s been years since I returned anything, so don’t know what the difference is between doing that and going online.

Louis,
When returning gold to the mint, is the postage they email to you Registered Mail? And does it include insurance or do you have to purchase the insurance separately? And are the coins really covered by the insurance? Do you get proof of mailing?

Louis, The Mint e-mailed me the sticker because i wasn’t going to pay for return shipping. They are reimbursing me the whole amount. (Like it should be.) If a proof coin is freely out of the capsule, It is no longer a proof coin.. ( In my opinion anyway). Wasn’t my fault…

@ cagcrisp…. 100% agreed….

BTW… Just to complete my earlier statement… If we can’t trust the grading companies ( especially the big 2 ), What are we doing here???????

Thanks, Joe.
Dave- Don’t know as it’s been 8 years since I sent anything back.
I tried to request a return online and they said:
“We’re unable to process your return items at this time. Please contact customer service for more information.”
WTF?

Louis? Keep calling them 10 to 15 times a day every day, Until you get satisfaction and demand them to e-mail the return sticker where you don’t pay for return shipping if the product is damaged.. You have to fight to get what your entitled to sometimes.. It doesn’t matter past the 7 days AS LONG AS YOU CALL THEM A.S.A.P. when you receive the coin(s).

I have decided to return the coin. Called the mint & they said they send an e-mail for prepaid label. The old way was a re-imbursement for the return shipment. I like this better-no waiting for your check. I will ask for a replacement. Wish me luck.

The beautiful 2015 1 oz. High Relief American Liberty coin in .9999 fine gold is the first of its kind and has been the subject of articles for months. This highly anticipated coin issue has a $100 denomination, which is a first for modern 1 oz. gold coins. Now, MCM has lowered the price down to $1979 and is offering an additional $20 off for our email subscribers!

While this American Liberty High Relief gold coin is the first of its kind, this is not the first such coin struck in the United States. In 2009, the United States Mint produced a limited number of Ultra High Relief coins that reincarnated the Augustus Saint-Gaudens 1907 double eagle 20 coin with exacting detail. These coins were immediately very popular and value soared shortly after their release. To this day, these coins are difficult to find and are quite valuable.

What is amazing to me is just how Little flipping is being done on the high relief Liberty. Currently there are 3 True auctions out of 206 items listed. That 1.5%.

Flipper did Good on flipping Gold BHOF. Then… Flippers were All Over the JFK Gold. And…

JFK Gold came out and 56,694 were Sold Day 1 and First reporting period showed Sales of 62,341. The JFK was available for almost another year and it Only had 73,215 Sold according to the latest Sales numbers. Flippers for the Most part, got burned.

Now we have One week after Launch and we have a Total of 3 True Auctions. Some have concluded but I don’t see Any Sales to write home about. I have no idea if this pattern stays, but for now, it appears that the small collector did NOT take a chance Flipping a $1,490.00 coin. (At least until IF/When there is a Sell out)…

Hawkster- I saw that but when I selected it I got the message saying they could not process my return. , I will call the Mint after a delivery I am waiting on that was due a couple hours ago finally arrives. Don’t know if it’s just me or what, but customer service sure isn’t what it used to be most places.

I’m getting a bit bored with this hunk of HR Gold Bullion . I don’t especially care for the die polishing ” scratches” either. The Eagle on the reverse is rather nice, great even, but maybe not great enough to keep an ounce of Gold sitting in storage with the spot slipping down.

I guess I’ll take my packing tape to work this evening a d think about this a bit more. I might need to prepare to ship out tomorrow.

My job involves keeping Robots running and sometimes they almost run perfectly. Other times I’m very busy keeping it all going. So maybe I’ll have some free time tonight, maybe not.

It seems that buying a coin product directly from the Mint, especially one in which a lot of money is involved, is a crap shoot in terms of the quality you will receive.
As many posters have commented, they are not willing to take the chance and, instead, opt to spend additional money for a graded coin. The only problem here is that graders handle the coins with their bare hands. Maybe it’s just me, but I do not want my coins handled in this manner.
The best option, especially for those within a reasonable traveling distance, is to buy such coins at the Mint’s stores. You can request of the clerk to bring out several examples, which you can eyeball directly or with a loupe. In this way, you can be assured of buying a nice quality coin in OGP.

Well, for anyone who cares or is interested I have decided not to return my HR coin and to have it graded instead. The quality of mine is very good and I do not see any visible imperfections apart from some mild die polish marks that should not affect the grade. Need to send something else in next week anyway. Will reports my results in a couple weeks.
I think to see the obverse correctly you need to angle it right so you can see the face properly. Otherwise the face gets distorted and that is what makes some people say it is ugly in my view. Bottom line is we need to do our homework on high relief striking but it was a valiant effort.

By the way, I’ve heard a lot of trash talk about the JFK gold. But I just checked and graded 70’s have mostly held up pretty well esp. considering the drop in gold. Most recent sales are not far from what I paid a year ago when gold was higher.

Louis, I was about to ask you if I could buy it from you if it had no issues. Let us know how it graded. If I get another bad coin for my replacement, I’ll buy one graded. The gold sure looks good in the NGC black holder. Has anyone bought a MS70 that had issues?